


Red like Rust

by epitomizedTyrant



Category: RWBY
Genre: Blake is also happy, Everyines a bit sad but finding ways to be happy, Future AU, Neo is probably eating icecream, Oscar is stressed, Qrow is sober, Roman is capitalizing, Ruby is lost, Weiss is busy, Yang is happy, adoptive children, extensive headcannons on exactly how Aura works, i dunno
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-22
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-09-11 02:18:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8949937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/epitomizedTyrant/pseuds/epitomizedTyrant
Summary: Ruby Rose finds herself at a loss for whats next after defeating Salem. Grimm are more a problem now than ever and her friends seem to be growing away from her. Ten years later and her celebrity is all but gone and she still hasn't found a purpose in life.





	1. Chapter 1

  

“Ruby..”

Weiss Schnee felt a bit guilty. She had originally been calling Ruby once a month, after they had defeated Salem. After about a year it had become once every three or four months.after two it had become once a year. Weiss hadn't tried to call Ruby for nearly three years now. She didn't know what had ruined Ruby, whether it had been the fame, or the blood of Cinder and Salem and as she discovered later the blood of Mercury and Tyrian as well. Weiss knew Ruby didn't mind killing anymore after that. Deep in her heart Weiss knew what had driven Ruby to follow in her uncle's footsteps. After two years of fame and what must have felt like her friends just utterly abandoning her, Ruby had taken to drinking.

She said she had a lot of reasons for it, and maybe she did. After that whenever Weiss would call her it always would end in a shouting match. If Weiss was honest she didn't know what Ruby had been up to for the past seven years. She was only getting ready to make this call because the Vytal festival kept bringing up memories. It was always a painful time of year, and she had only enjoyed the festivities once or twice.

Team RWBY had never gotten back together, not officially at least. The four of them had become friends again just before the civil war in mistral, and after everything had gone fully and completely to shit the kind of composite RNJRWBY had been essentially drafted into service. That service, first to Mistral then later to Vale and eventually with the allied continents against Salem were what had kept them together. Then after the war was won they all had to go out and get lives. Yang had adjusted the quickest. She used her heros pay to buy Juniors club out from under him and start running it. Weiss used to say that she was the second quickest to adapt to normal life again, but the way she threw herself into carving a piece of the Schnee Dust Corporation out for herself was far from well adjusted. So Blake was the second quickest, settling into her role as a figurehead and activist for faunas rights. Ruby… well, Weiss really didn't know whether she properly adjusted.

Despite the death of Salem, the Grimm had not gone. In fact it felt like the wilds were more dangerous than ever, and it made sense. Salem’s shadow still loomed, people knew what was out there, and the grimm fed on fear. And there was a lot to be scared of. That meant that most of the time Ruby had plenty of huntress work to do outside vale while doing weapon commissions. Weiss had eventually realized that the commissions had been exclusively to fill time between missions.

Today was the start of the Vytal festival again. After a moment it had apparently made contact with Ruby’s. Surprise Sadness passed over Weiss’s face as she knew what was coming. She had no doubt the Ruby would be off somewhere, drunk off her ass, and they would wind up yelling. But at least she was trying.

“Hello?” Ruby’s voice was a deeper pitch than it used to be, and a little bit of gravel found its way in on the lowest notes but it was still very recognizable as the the excitable warrior. It took Weiss a moment to respond, as this was the first time that there was no slur to her old friends words. She was equally surprised by the fact that Ruby picked up at all. It had been 

“Hello Ruby, it's been a long time.”

“Oh, Uh, hi Weiss.”

“You sound… sober.”

“Yeah. Neo doesn't like it when I drink all the time. Apparently I forget to shower, who knew. How is… everyone?”

“Oh, well, everyone's been doing okay. Blake reformed the… whos Neo?”

“I asked first Schnee.”

Weiss wondered if that was a sign of anger or if Ruby just referred to people by their last names now. “Oh, okay, uhm… So Blake successfully reformed the white fang into something more in line with her original mission, Yang started teaching at beacon, she going to take over the old unarmed class next semester and is running that bar she got from Junior in her spare time. Oh, and she got married. To Blake.” The surprise of Ruby being so calm and sober had shaken her far more than she wanted to admit. “Team JNR is doing well too, Velvet wound up joining them after CFVY…. Anyway they are classified as semi active because they all have day jobs. So… Uhm… where have you been?”

“Everyone” Ruby stopped talking for a moment as gunshots and a bit of scuffling took over the audio feed. A thunk and a scream preceded ruby continuing unphased.”includes yourself y’know.”

“Ruby are you fighting? What the hell is going on?”

“I’m not fighting. Some poor fellow was just having a disagreement with some ruffians and I arbitrated the discussion.”

“I see your vocabulary has improved.”

Ruby sighed deeply. The commotion had stopped. “Yeah, R-... couple of my friends over here have been recommending books.”

“You okay Ruby?”

“I haven’t drawn Crescent Grandiflora in four months, and even then it was only to the first degree.”

“Crescent Grandiflora? What happened to Crescent Multiflora?” Crescent Multiflora was the weapon Ruby had built to replace the Crescent Rose after it had gotten implacably stuck inside of Salem's stone corpse. 

“Oh, I gave it to a kid I taught a few years back. I wonder how the lil dude is doing now.”

“Hm, that name sounds familiar. But you taught a child? How to wield a SCYTHE?”

“Yeah. I’ve got a legacy of giving children dangerous weaponry to pass on. Besides he picked it up faster than I did even.” Ruby had an almost sad tone talking about this Sapphire character.

“Did something happen to him?”

“Hm? Oh not at all. I just never really saw him again. It's been years now he must be all grown up.” she paused for a moment, but right as Weiss began preparing to speak she continued. “Heh. i wonder if he still wears that combat skirt I made him wear in training.”

“Oh my god Ruby. I could check up on him if you want.”

“Nah, I don't much like the idea of owing the Schnee corporation a favor.”

Weiss didn't know quite how to take that. She wasn't sure if Ruby meant it as a slight, but regardless it felt like one. 

Before Weiss could respond Ruby continued “Sorry Weiss. I've been out in the areas your PR doesn't quite reach. Most people still have real bad wounds from your dust monopoly”

“Just where have you been Ruby?”

“Heh, all over the place. We just got back to the city after this last job.”

“Who is this we?”

“Uh, uhm, Oh no more ruffians!” Weiss could hear the sounds of spastic gunfire from… one gun. “Welp gotta go deal with this!”

“Ruby that's obviously you making an” *click* “... excuse. Well that was weird.”

Weiss twirled idly in her chair, wondering if she should call Yang about this. Ruby had actually had her Scroll on, which was utterly bizarre. She hadnt had it on, as far as Weiss knew, for actual years

  
  
  
  


______________________________

At some point in time

  
  


Grandiflora utterly dwarfed both Crescent and Multiflora. She had considered it her masterwork for a long time, and to some extent still did. She had made it to be both the most powerful iteration of her scythe, and a gimp as need be. There had been no challenge in fighting for sometime so she had built this weapon to be something that, in its base form, was far outside her fighting style and would be unwieldy and challenging to use. So it wound up being a rather large briefcase that she could carry normally or on her upper back “holster”. In its second form it was a large axe, which she made a rule of never training with so that while closer to something she was good with but still a league away. The fully extended form was the scythe of course.  The blade of this one was a far cry from the previous scythes. The large blade was simple, only having one break at the thickest point, and edged on both sides. The tip ended in a wicked looking curve and was nearly two feet longer than her original scythe. The smaller blade was very similar, though only a quarter of the size. The head of the weapon let it extend into a war scythe just like her original though it could not fire in this mode.

She could never have wielded it back at beacon. Probably not even during the war, at least not well. During her travels she had become stronger. So much stronger. Through carrying her supplies, constant fighting, and high intensity training that she threw herself into every other day her muscles would have made her dad insecure. She was even a bit taller than him, which must have come from the Xiao Long blood.

She pondered all this as she sharpened the halberd head that was affixed to the base of the weapon behind the clip and action. The tree she was sitting under cast a pleasant shadow for her to relax in while the breeze blew a couple strands of her long and unkempt hair past her face.

She was proud of the weapon, it wasn't the most complex weapon she'd ever seen, but it was strong and felt familiar in her hands. She ran a finger along the very base, where the clip of 13 mm bullets slotted in behind a dust selection revolver. Weiss’s Myrtenaster had given her the idea, rather than using different ammo types the revolver could charge the barrel with dust. 

After her experiment with the Multiflora, which had been a size down and far simpler, as well as being a marksman's  rifle rather than a sniper it was good to be back to the basics. Also, red. The multiflora had been a bit… on brand with her silver eyes. She had made it to remind people of their hero, and she hadn't felt like a hero for a long time. Maybe when she was teaching Sapphire, but that's why she left it with him right? As she shifted to check the dust vials her flask clinked against something in her coat. 

Sapphires handgun. A source of deep pride and regret for her. Everytime she felt the hefty grip she wondered where he was now. He used to dual wield them before Ruby came along. He wanted her to keep one of them to remember him by or something. She wound up modding it a bit, so she could use it for dramatic finishes. It was a very interesting weapon really. Originally it loaded dust charges that would fire in bursts, each charge having about twenty shots in it. They were of average strength, most of the sheer size came from the dust focusing apparatus. Her modifications had it fire a single ridiculously high impact bolt.

She put the handgun back after a quick basic inspection and pulled out the flask instead. Her mind drifted for a bit, and she wound up thinking about old muzzle fired grenades.

  
  
  


______________________________

Chat log for team RNR

 

NEO: (snapchat of orange douche with “Look i found roman”)

 

R-R: what is it, i cant load images out here

 

DAPPER: Im so hurt

 

R-R: i still cant beleive you named your profile Dapper

 

DAPPER: Im so hurt i might have to binge watch something and eat ice cream

 

NEO: Dont you dare

 

DAPPER: But i cant eat it all, i must leave some for my team mates

 

R-R: lmao is this happening

 

DAPPER: Ill just have my two favorite types… Chocolate and strawberry

 

NEO: I WILL KILL YOU TORCHDICK

 

R-R: shh its okay, ill take you out for ice cream right now.

 

R-R: also im totes using that.

 

R-R: later torchdick

 

DAPPER: This isn't fair.

 

_______________________________

` Years in the past, but not many.

 

Roman torchwick didn’t often feel uneasy, but he also didn’t often return to find a hideout full of unconscious goons. This wasn’t the work of anyone he knew. No signatures had been left, none of them were dead so he couldn't identify the weapon. Speaking of, it was odd that they weren't dead or tied up. It looked like they had been just knocked aside. He and Neapolitan snuck down the hallway, stepping lightly over bodies. They were getting close to the central room of this operation he had set up, and he was considering just turning back. Only for a moment though. Soon his anger at this transgression burned through. He was gonna kick somebodys ass!

He and Neo took positions on both sides of the main command door, braced themselves, and did the most dramatic breach they could muster. Roman kicked open the door and flipped his cane into gun mode, while neo ducked in and used her umbrella like a riot sheild.

In the center of the room, amongst a small field of unconscious bodies, sat a cloaked figure. She was sitting on some type of red case, her combat boot clad legs spread eagle in front of her. No skin could be seen, up from her boots she was clad in black stockings and a long black skirt with red trim. She had on a hooded cloak that obscured her head completely, and she idly swirled a silver flask.

“Roman Torchwick! I have questions! You” the woman slurred in a voice that was just a couple octaves off of being familiar, “Have my answers.”

“Is that you Red?” He recognized her now, Ruby Rose. So much was different, she was an adult, she lacked her signature weapon, and most jarring was seeing her take huge swigs out of that flask. “What the hell happened to you.” He murmured.

“I get to ask questions first! I beat up all these people, therefore I win the right. I have two!” She punctuated it by throwing two fingers toward the sky “Questions! You can ask later maybe.”

She stood up and continued talking before he could react. “One! The first! What does the inside of a grim look like! And Two! How are you not dead?”

“I don't think I owe you any. Especially after you came here to ruin my operation! How did you find me? Who tipped you off?” he demanded angrily. He should have known better than to trust anyone in Mistral. Neo fell into a more combative stance beside him.

He could tell Ruby noticed, but she seemed to almost relax more at that, before she leaned forward and said, “One of your little dumbasses had the bright idea to try and rob a young lady with a red luggage. After being informed of the error of his ways he kindly told the young lady where she could” She was interrupted by a deep belch that made her eyes cross, and she had to shake herself before finishing “Find the location at which she could lodge a formal complaint. Hee Hee, that sounded  _ way  _ too much like Weiss.”

“There” she proclaimed, standing up, “I answered you, now you answer me!”

“Ugh, fine” Roman started to pace “So there I was,” he struck a dramatic pose  “inside the belly of a beast, the last of my aura being rapidly drained by its ministrations, so with quick thinking and careful maneuvering I shot it. Several times. I found myself lucky enough to be dropped over water as its form dissipated. There are you happy?”

She gave him a short standing ovation and said “Yeah, yeah I’m good now.” She picked up her suitcase and stretched, letting out a little burp. “Bye and stuff”

“Wait, you're not gonna try and stop us?” Roman demanded, almost hurt.

“I dunno, are you planning another mass slaughter by letting Grimm into the city?”

“Actually we were going to rob a dust transport by one of the biggest criminal organizations on the continent.” That seemed to catch her attention. “But now...”

“Criminal, you say? Like you guys are stealing from the mafia?” She looked at the two of them, conflicted about something. Roman knew he had her interest now. 

“Well we were, but I'm pretty sure half those guys aren't gonna be in fighting condition tomorrow.” 

“Why are you guys robbing from your own kind?” Ruby asked suspiciously.”

“Two reasons” he responded with a shrug “Mostly it keeps the cops off our asses, but it also doesn't make my heart clench up in guilt later.” He really wished he was lying about the guilt. He did what he had to do in order to survive. He had never liked it. Neo on the other hand had a sadistic streak a mile long

“Give me a twenty five percent cut and I’ll do the fighting.” Apparently she got over her inner conflict.

“Well, considering i was paying out 75% to these assholes you just finished wrecking, I can’t really turn down this offer.” he said while extending his hand for a shake. Clinch it Roman, you just got a war machine.

Ruby took it.

Clinched it.

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updated this chapter because the first version sucked.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone asked Ruby why she had so many weapons once. She gave them an in depth showing of how that scene in Ratatouille worked.

    
  
  
  
  
  


The three of them left the hideout together, heading back to the hotel that Neapolitan and Roman were staying at. They explained on the way that they had gone into hiding in Atlas for a few years, and had only recently come to the continent of Mistral. Ruby in turn told them that she had wandered vale for less than a year before setting out to the continent of vacuo where she was for quite a while before coming to Mistral.

Neo started typing on her scroll. After a moment she held it up to Ruby:  So what made you leave Vale anyway?

“ Oh, well, i needed purpose in my life. I mean, as much fun as being a small business owner is, and i truly did enjoy it, i felt like the city was crushing me. I had been the Silver Eyed Warrior for a couple years at that point, but even with more grimm than ever they were always spread out. I wasn’t needed. And to go from having victory be utterly impossible without you, so that it occupies every part of your life, to… winning… i was just so empty for such a long time. Team RWBY never reformed, and RNJR, well, it wasn't meant to last.”

Ruby flipped her head back and dragged one hand down her face. “Who am i kidding. I left because i was never gonna be able to look Yang in the eye after she caught me…” Ruby looked away sharply and took a deep breathe.

Small business owner?  Neo asked, despite her deep curiosity.

“Yeah,” Ruby said, looking extremely grateful for the path out of a painful memory. “I ran a weapon shop for a while. I was actually pretty successful. I had a few people coming through just wanting weapons built by a celebrity, but i was one of the only people willing to make truly interesting and innovative weapons, like Grandiflora here.” She said with surprising clarity while tapping her red metal luggage.

“So then I walked to Vacuo.” she finished after apparently finishing her flask after a long draught. 

“You… walked to Vacuo. A separate continent.”

“Wasn’t the first time.” She smirked

“So did you hire a boat or what?” Roman asked incredulously

“That's a tale for another day i think. So why Atlas?”

“We figured it was the last place on Remnant that people would ever look for us.”

“Thats… fair.” Ruby shrugged.

“After Cinders little faction thought we were dead we figured they couldn't hold anything over us anymore, so we ran.” Roman shrugged back

“What were they holding over you?” She asked as she knocked back another drink from her flask.

This time Neo typed out a message and held it up for Ruby:  They were threatening the orphanage we grew up in. There were good people there. They cared for us.

“Oh. Cinder was a real asshole huh. Thats no way to get, A Head, in life!” Ruby said with a manic grin.

“What… how drunk are you?” Roman asked as he stepped a little farther away.

“No no, its funny because I cut off her head. Get it? A Head?  Guess you had to be there. ”

You are the one that killed Cinder?

“Didn’t think you had it in you Red.” Ruby smirked at Romans remark.

“Yup. Executed her in front of Salem before either realized what was happening. Anyway, I've got to grab some stuff from my room before we do this job.” Ruby said in a stretch.

“Hmm… like what?”

“Just my mask and some ammo.”

“Alright we’ll go over the plans and you can go grab your stuff.” He said just as they reached the dingy hotel Neo and Roman were staying at.

It was a two story building with a small office and rooms facing out. The hourly price was apparently only twenty dollars an hour now. It was painted an awful looking eggshell, where the paint wasn’t chipping and the whole area smelled a bit like cat urine.

Ruby looked at roman, then at the hotel, then back to Roman. She gave a pronounced smirk and quirked eyebrow, “I guess crime really doesn't pay huh.”

“Hey, its undercover. The nice places don't accept bribes anymore.”

“Suurrrreee.”

Neo made a little noise that could have been laughter and Roman shot her an indignant glare. The room was on the bottom floor facing toward a warehouse on the back of the hotel. There seemed to be a lot of warehouses in this town. She said as much to Neo as roman fiddled with the keys, who gave a vague shrug and nodde.

Inside had been cleaned up a bit, and it seemed almost homey. The kind of familiarity a room has when one person has lived there for  couple months, though to Ruby's alcohol addled mind nothing seemed all that interesting about it. There was a little table beside the twin beds which the other two went to sit at as Ruby gave a cursory examination to the little green room.

It had two small beds, a little bathroom area with a side room for a toilet and shower, and a few bits of furniture like the I’ve stand and the shared night table, and the table that roman was laying a map out on.

“So, the local division of some big crime circuit just nabbed a huge shipment of dust from the schnee company. I've got a buyer, all we have to do is steal the truck and take the whole thing there in one piece. The only place we can do that safely is, of course, outside the city walls.” he pointed to a line on the map denoting a road. “We will ambush it on the road and then take it the rest of the way. Originally we were going to surround the the thing and pick everyone off at range. Before moving in, but with you here… well, we think you can probably take them all on.”

Ruby nodded. “Yeah, I can probably take them to pasture.”

“Alright.” he said. “Good. One thing though. We can’t let them know who did this. That means we are gonna have to kill them so they don’t report. Now, remember these guys have probably all killed and tortured people before, and probably will again.”

“Don't worry about it. I try to avoid pointless death but sometimes it can’t be helped. I will spare no mercy.”

A flash of what could have been worry crossed Romans face, but Neo perked up a bit at the mention of mercy, or rather the lack of it. Roman knew that Neo couldn't wait to see what the other Huntress had become.

“Alright, sorry to be brief but that's basically it. We will meet here” He pointed at a stop on the map “tomorrow morning and set off?”

“Sounds like a plan man” Ruby said as she tossed up a peace sign and walked out the door.

Once it was shut, Roman murmured to Neo “Well, this ought to be an interesting week.”

  
  


Ruby shot up out of bed, sweating and looking wildly around the room, not really seeing anything. Her hands shook as she reached out for support on the mattress and laid back down, slowly and calmly.

One of her pistols was under her pillow. She groped for it and retreated back into a fetal ball once she had it gripped firmly in her left hand. She ran her thumb over the cold steel and slowly she stopped shaking.

She slowly reached for the other metal friend underneath the pillow. She tipped the flask into her mouth gingerly, enjoying the warmth at the back of her throat. Today was going to be a long day.

She sat up a lurched off the bed, going to scavenge for clean clothes in the messy Mistral hotel room and scrambled into them before strapping on her equipment and pushing out the door. She got some looks as she always did in the Grimm helm and loaded down with ammo and weapons, but she had been deadened to those judgemental glances years ago.

When she stepped outside she took a hard right on the oddly quiet street.

It was a sunny day when the three reconvened. The stench of the city mixing with the aromatic floral scents that dominated this part of Mistral were even more vivid than usual in the hot sun. Ruby arrived at the agreed upon spot first. She was almost fully equiped, though she left Pennys swords and Silberbiss at her hotel room, she still carried her throwing knives, her boot machetes, Crescent Grandiflora, and her dual pistols. Her upper body was mostly concealed by her cloak, which left her combat skirt and the few inches of legging between the bottom of the skirt and her tall thick boots visible. She was wearing the helmet, but currently it was retracted so her face was visible.

The meeting place was a little bus stop overlooking a cliff. Ruby sat on the guardrail kicking her feet over the long drop occasionally sipping from her flask. She was unsure of how much time had passed while she sat on the burning hot guardrail before she heard the sound of an approaching car and felt the now familiar ripple of Neo and Romans auras approaching. She felt like the ripples let her know people better, almost like the fringes of their souls were touching hers. Subconsciously most people responded to aura fluctuations, like the mob mentality was magnified in groups of awakened people. 

She never recalled one instance of anyone mentioning the ability to detect other auras in school. She knew it wasn't special to her, she taught it to Sapphire after all. Dwelling on the past always made the scar itch, so instead she stood up to greet her new employers.

She was looking forward to this. Killing grimm and random bandits felt empty after a while. They were threats, but putting a major criminal organization to her scythe was a much more tangible way of helping people. It felt better. Besides, goons of this type were rarely the types to have fought before. A small part of her loved the looks of fear. Fear always tasted so sweet.

An ice cream truck pulled up in front of her, “ _ Neos Neo, definitely not poison! _ ” was painted across the side. Ruby let out a small giggle. The sound startled her, and her hand shot up to touch her lips. She couldn't remember for the life of her the last time she had laughed like that. That pure, unironic and simple laugh.

Roman pulled open a door on the side and Ruby gracefully hopped in. Smiling at Neo in the rear view mirror who smirked back.

“Alright!” Roman said in the tone of voice that meant he knew he was about to enjoy himself. “Let’s go steal from the mafia!”

 

______________________________________

       Two Years after the second great war.

 

They had fixed what was broken. Everything was fine. Some people had died, but not anywhere near the tragedy he had expected. Everyone even seemed to be recovering as far as he could tell. So why was Ruby missing, and why had there been two ticket stubs for a boat to Mistral leaving that sunday.

Qrow tried to explain to the poor faunas running the little dock kiosk what had happened. After what had felt like an hour he got the young man to look over the departure log, his puppy like ears laying down under the stress of dealing with the all but inebriated hunter. 

“Oh! Are you any of the following people; Qrow, Ya-”

“Yes!” Qrow quickly interrupted “I'm Qrow Branwen, why?”

“A young woman by the name Ruby Rose sent a note for you. Here,” he said handing Qrow

On the crumpled piece of paper someone, assumedly Ruby, had written in crimson red ink:  Hello who ever found this. Im going away for awhile, i doubt you will be able to follow me. Im also turning off my current scroll for awhile, so you won't be able to contact me. It’s for the best, really, I doubt anyone will take the time to obtain this note. Oh well. Bye!   -Ruby Rose

PS- Tell Yang that I’m sorry she had to see that.

 

He already was dialing Yang on his scroll as he walked back into town.

“Hello, Yang here” his niece responded.

“Did something happen with Ruby recently?” He said, trying to be tactful.

“Uh, I uh…. What happened?” Yang evaded.

“She’s gone, I have no idea where to just, gone. She left a note with the port that she bought fake tickets for.”

“Oh, uh, I uh. About a week ago I was checking into some white fang stuff, and I found that Adam Taurus recently came into town, so i went to go case the joint. When I got there I found all his white fang unconscious and… gravely injured. So I followed the trail of… hopefully unconscious bodies, and at the end….” she trailed off, taking a deep breath. “At the end I found Ruby and Adam. He was… she…”

“What happened Yang? It's alright just tell me what happened.” Qrows mind was racing through the possibilities. Had Adam won? Did Yang get there just in time? Or too late? Before his mind could spin off a worrying tale Yang continued.

“There was so much blood. He couldn’t have been alive anymore at that point. Ruby had… Cut off his arms at the shoulder. And his legs. She was standing on top of him, with her scythe under his neck, and then she put her foot on the back of his head and stomped.”

Qrow had a hard time believing Ruby capable of such brutality. The old Ruby. the Ruby that he had taught, and knew so years ago. She was such pure person, just wanting to help people. It dawned on him then exactly how little he had seen of her since everything had gone down. Ozpin, no, Oscar, alway had work and… He had no idea what had been going on in Ruby’s life. Or Yangs. Or his other few remaining friends for that matter .Ruby was out of his reach now, he realized. She was always fast, and he had no idea where she had run. Instead of chasing her he resolved himself to be there for Yang, and Jimmy, and Winter, the few friends he had left. 

“Alright Yang. Hey I'll take you and Blake out for ice cream when I get back, that sound good?”

“Yeah, sure, sounds fun Qrow. Do you… do you think I should call Ruby?”

“No point. She turned off her scroll. Too little to late I think. See you soon.”

“Yeah. Bye Qrow.”

The call ended and he headed back to Beacon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rewrote most of this chapter because it kinda sucked.
> 
> Removed a scene because it needed its own chapter.
> 
> Qrow probably blames to much shit on himself.


	3. Chapter 3

\----------------------

About ten years after the second Great War

\----------------------

  
  
  


Qrow rather liked Juniors club. A lot more since Yang took it over but Junior himself, who was now the bartender, was a good pal. Not a lot of people came in at this time of the day which was why crow always made sure to come here at this time. He tried not to drink as much nowadays but he had no interest in stopping completely.

After a few minutes of smalltalk someone new walked into the bar. She seemed familiar. It was probably the red cloak she wore, or that mask that was disturbingly similar to Ravens. Even as he made that comparison he realized how wrong it was. The bandit helm that Raven wore was severe and sharp. Made to look monstrous and to terrify. This mask was a bit unnerving admittedly, but it was not supposed to look like a monster. Perhaps a wolf? The eyes were shadowed so he could make nothing out of the face. 

She was obviously a huntress, he could have seen it just in the way she walked, but the huge boots she wore held four long machetes. It seemed a bit like overkill to him but he probably shouldn't judge. She sat down at the other end of the bar and waved at Junior. Once she had his attention she pointed at one of the drinks on the menu and held up four fingers. She was wearing some kind of bracelets or arm guards underneath the long sleeves. 

Junior looked a bit nervous as he brought her four glasses of something that looked a bit too much like radiator fluid for his taste. She touched something in her hood and the mouthpiece retracted. He was ashamed to say he flinched imperceptibly when he saw the gnarled scar at the base of her jaw. He’d seen worse, much worse, but it still caught him off guard. 

What caught him even more off guard was the way she slammed each one back in seconds, one after the other.she leaned back and looked up for a moment after finishing. She breathed deeply and motioned for another drink, pointing to something on the menu again. This time Junior slid her a strawberry flavored drink that mixed a large volume with beer like alcohol content. She sipped at it while watching the news.

The next time Junior wandered over his way Qrow tugged on his sleeve to pull him in close. “Who's that lady with the iron liver over there?”

“That darlin would be Crimson Wulfhardt. I did some research after the last time she came in cause..” Junior glanced her direction “She's about the scariest person I've seen come through those doors and all she did was order a drink. Usually i get beaten up or threatened.”

Junior leaned back a bit and started to clean a glass. Qrow looked on expectantly, genuinely curious about the new arrival. Junior did not seem to notice, bobbing his head to whatever remix of “from shadow” was playing at the moment.

“What did you learn junior.” Qrows annoyance touched his voice just a bit.

“Oh, Right” Junior leaned back in. “Apparently no one knows where she actually came from, but a few years back she showed up in vacuo and started taking work. She got a reputation quite quickly. Apparently she’s a real brutal fighter once she gets started. A lot of stories get passed around about grimm actually fleeing from her once she draws her axe.”

“So badass with a mysterious past, is that it?”

“Not at all. Apparently most major criminal organizations in Mistral had it out for her and her associates, allegedly Roman Torchwick and Neopolitan. About two years ago she disappeared from Vacuo and popped up in mistral raiding criminal caravans and headquarters and all kinds of crazy shit.”

“Any idea what she's doing here then?”

“None. she hasn't been seen from in months as far as i can tell. No one's mentioned activity from around here either. It seems like she's just kinda… here now.”

“Lying low you think?” Qrow said conspiratorially.

“Maybe but… I don't know Qrow. This is just me speculating of course, but she's probably here for a job.”

Junior left to go deal with the two other people at the long bar, leaving Qrow with his thoughts. Perhaps he was just drunk, but a few lines were being drawn in his head. Oscar had been catty and ambiguous lately, and if he was anything like old Oz then that meant something was going down.she probably was here for that.

As he was thinking about Oz his mind wandered to the last meeting he had with Oscar. They had scheduled it a bit later than usual, but that wasn't what stood out to him. No, it was the crimson cloak he had seen walking out of the school that day. Qrow was a bit disturbed by the idea that Oscar had hired a mercenary. He made a mental note to talk to Oz about it at the earliest convenience.

He thought about buying the mysterious huntress a drink. He started raising his hand when his scroll buzzed, three short buzzes instead of the normal single long buzz. That meant Oscar. 

He pulled it out and scanned the message. Apparently the young headmaster wanted to talk to him about something.

Fifteen minutes later he was thinking about how the elevator was awfully warm. Qrow couldn't remember for the life of him whether or not he had put on his sweat guard that morning and was being very vigilant for the potential pit stains that were sure to form. 

The elevator to the top of beacons tower was at least empty apart from himself. Usually he had wound up having to ride up in an uncomfortable silence with James, a comfortable rapport with Glynda, or the comforting presence of Ozpins. One of these was far more common than the others sadly. Now though, he rode it alone, off to see Oscar. 

  
  


“Whats up Oz? I was about to buy a drink for someone.” Qrow said as he strutted into the reconstructed office. It looked largely the same, though the chair looked less phallic. That disappointed Qrow every time he saw it.

“Please, sit.” Oscar gestured to a chair that had risen from the floor, in which qrow then sat. the young man with aged eyes sighed. “Have you ever heard the story of the wizard and the wandering warrior?”

“No” Qrow replied, noting a look of worry and sadness in the young man's eye.

Oscar launched right into the story. In the tone of voice that told qrow he was pulling something out of his old memories, from Ozpin or his predecessors.

It's about the wizard from the seasons story. Some time after the four women had gone, days or months later, a new figure, approached. Once more a younger woman, but she was tall and pale wearing a long bloody red cloak and carrying death across one shoulder. The old man could not make out her face in the hood she was wearing not above the mouth. 

He called out to her, commenting on the weather, and for a moment she was surprised dumbfounded for a moment. Then she smiled wistfully and greeted him, saying the weather was bit warm there. He asked who she was, stating he had not seen her before, and there were so few he had seen.

She responded that she was but a wandering warrior, a blade for those who needed it, to cut through that shadows that clouded the world and help forge their paths. He asked of her travels and she told him tales of heroism and bravery she had seen in the people of the world.

A small boy standing in front of his injured father when faced with a monster. A mother lifting a sword to a cruel king after one cruelty too many. A traveler who refused to fight no matter what was done to him, but leaping to the aid of others without hesitation. The ones who stayed behind to protect a village under siege from the shadows while the rest fled to safety. 

She spoke long and wistfully until twilight. Amongst her tales of bravery and heroism an underlying theme began to gnaw at the old man. The pain and danger of the world had not touched him in quite sometime, and for that night it would plague his thoughts. 

He asked how he could thank the wanderer for her tales. All she asked was that she could rest there for the night. When he said yes she thanked him and stood up. He was surprised when she walked outside, and he asked where she was going. She told him that she was going to rest, and she climbed into a tree. Relaxing against the rough bark and laying her legs upon a branch.

Night came and he couldn't pull his mind from the troubles he had heard of in the world. He tossed and turned for a while into the night. After a while he realized something odd. Not a single story had been of her own deeds.

In the morning he walked out to her tree to find her yet sleeping.  Just beyond what he considered his lawn the ground was torn up, like a battle occurred there. He set about preparing some breakfast she awoke, but chose to watch him from the tree silently rather than move.

Once breakfast was prepared he called to her, and they sat down outside to eat. After a moment of silence he asked her why she never told her any of her own stories.

“I only told you the tales of heroes.”

Are you not a great warrior? Did you not protect me while I slept last night? She gave a tired nod. 

“I kept going until I realized that your house was protected by some force.”

“So does that not make you a hero?”

“No I am no hero. I am a warrior and nothing more.”

“But I can see the purity and the selflessness in your eyes. Truly the trappings of a hero, are they not?”

“I have wandered the world fighting monsters, of both human and grimm. Heroes have a cause. Heroes overcome themselves, their fears.”

Then for the first time the wanderer smiled. Wide and mirthful, showing her sharp bestial looking teeth. For a moment she looked him in the eyes, and he saw the darkness of the world flicker around the purity and strength in her shining eyes that he had seen from the start.

“You are a wise man. Remember that all things can be pure. The heart of a hero is driven by conflict. I and my lineage are blessed or perhaps cursed with pure spirits. We are born with a single thought in mind. Each of us wish to go out into the world and stand amongst the heroes. But in the end we are monsters too.”

“But you are not like the monsters of this world, not those amongst men or amongst the shadows.” The wizard said, confused.

“No.” she said simply. She stood, once again balancing death upon her shoulder. Standing as she was, outlined against the rising sun the wizard saw a force of nature and he understood what she had meant. As she walked into the wilderness from whence she came he felt a stillness return to him. 

 

“I.. had never heard that story before.” Qrow said, somewhat confused.

“No, few have. It's not very popular for the obvious reasons. It had begun to fade from our memories. Had i not told you it may have been lost permanently.” 

“Why are you telling me this Oscar?” Crow asked

Oscar paused for a moment, before saying “The shining eyes in this story refer to the silver eyes trait of course.”

“And everything else? What are you trying to tell me Oz.” Qrow furrowed his brow. He didn’t like where this was going.

“I'm Just… Ruby won't be the same, the next time you see her. You know that right? It's been many years and it may be many more. Just. Be ready and open minded for whatever happens, okay crow?” Oscar sank into his chair a little more.

“Is this about what she did to Adam?” The older man raked a hand through his salt and pepper hair.

“In a way...” Ozp… car. Oscar closed his eyes in the way Ozpin always did when he couldn't find the words.

“I don't understand.” Sometimes mysterious wizard talk exhausted qrow.

“No. Perhaps not.”

“Why can't anyone just speak plainly around here. Seriously! Would it kill people to just come out and say what they mean.” The old hunter growled.

“I can’t really fully explain because i don't know myself Qrow. But there's often a reason for these stories, and this one stirs the fog at the back of Ozpin's mind especially, so I thought it best to tell you before it was lost to time.” Oscar said calmly but firmly. “Just... don't freak out if your niece has fangs next time you see her.” 

After a few moments of silence they moved on to talking about happier things. Qrow talked a lot about his niece and his niece in law and his grand nephew. Oscar listened happily. Thinking about family had always calmed them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is at the tail end of the timeline for Pt.1. 
> 
> Rust Red is sort of setting up the AU for the next bit, which is why its a series of disjointed scenes from random points in the timeline.
> 
> Hopefully the story made sense. I wasn't sure how to give the weird myth mojo.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is the last of the scenes before the actual story kicks in, so I'll be putting it in one of those series brackets.
> 
> Yaaay

___________________________________

       Six years after the second great war..

 

It was on cold nights like these, when Ruby was so close to a town that she would just keep walking and her mind would wander back. She could never remember the faces of those she had saved. The faces of those she had failed however were seared into her mind. Pyrrha. Penny. Raven, for all the her shittiness, she had still wanted to bring her back to Yang. the people who died at the fall of Beacon. The people who died in those Grimm attacks where team RNJR had been to slow to find anything but corpses. The scars on her right thigh burned. Six of them burned. Six short uniform lines she had personally sliced to honor the fallen. The burn was psychological, but it seemed wounds of the mind hurt far worse than wounds of the body.

Her cases hung heavy at her sides and her pack felt as though it was the weight of the world laying on her shoulders. She could feel two of the blades she had taken from penny as a reminder on her right shoulder underneath her pack.

She wished she had on her mask. Being Crimson Wulfhardt, mercenary and wandering warrior was easier than being Ruby. Crimson didn’t owe anyone anything. Crimson wasn’t supposed to be a hero, and the Silver Eyed warrior was. Her helmet/mask thing looked a lot like ravens, but without the extra eyes and was molded in a more canine shape.

Somewhere inside she knew she was running, but god damn it she was tired of fighting. She’d been running since she left Vale. Even now she had never stopped training every other night. Meditating and exercising and going through various forms. Pulling out her pocket workshop and machining a few parts. She wasn't sure what she was making now, but it would only be a week or two till it started to take shape. It would be impractical and she would sell it in the next town, but it kept her skills sharp. She couldn’t help but think of Penny as she looked up to the stars. She’d liked Penny. In a way she didn't like many people. In the way she had liked Weiss.  Romantic attraction seemed far too heavy to be the light, simple emotions she had felt but it meant the same thing.

Maybe She should call Weiss and apologize. No, she had done nothing that she needed to apologize for. Not to Weiss anyway. Not to Yang or Blake or any of them. Jaune maybe and Taiyang, they probably hadn't deserved the way she had abandoned them. Especially Tai, Jaune would understand. He and Pyrrha had been close and Ruby knew that Pyrrha’s struggles had been very similar. She always wished she could be as strong as Pyrrha. Or maybe just taken her place. 

Yeah, she should call her father. She would do it tomorrow. Taiyang deserved better than to have everyone just leave him. Hopefully Yang stayed in contact with him.

After she left and was so completely alone for a month during her travels, she learned something. When other people with aura were around it was possible to sense them. Their Aura seemed to rub against hers, and she didn’t know if it was something everyone had or if it was a side effect of the Silver Eyes, or if it was just due to the incredibly large amount of Aura she had trained herself to have. It was almost like triangulation, if she took the outer points of where she could feel their aura brushing against hers she could estimate where people were. She just felt her aura fizzle. Two people were hiding in the bushes on either side of the dirt road while one stood directly in the center in front of her. There could be more farther away, but she doubted it. Her radius of detection was a solid fifteen meters, give or take. 

She didn't stop walking while she considered her options. She could shoot them with the pistols on her sides. She could use Grandiflora or Silberbiss. She could use the throwing knives stowed against her shoulders. She could grab two of the four machetes she had in her modified boots. (she put sheaths on the sides and they were so badass looking.) She could punch them. So many options.

She was got within ten feet of the man in the road before he spoke up.

“Stop right there lady, this here's a toll road.”

She wished she had her mask on. “What's the tone? Toll.” She could feel the empty flask against her chest where it hung. 

“Everything you got, or, your life.”

“Mhm, interesting.” she placed her suitcases on the ground, and cocked her head to the side. “Alternate idea” She drew Silberbiss in her left hand and a pistol in her right. The massive silver handcanon glinted intimidatingly in the evening light and the red angular pistol accented its single massive bullet with forty lower caliber ones. She pointed Silber at the man in the road and the pistol at the person to her right in the bushes, clicking its selector into the three round burst position. “Your lien or your lives motherfuckers. All three of you.”

The man in the road charged with his mace held high. What an idiot. She changed Silberbiss into it short sword form and flipped the bayonet out on the pistol. He swung down hard with the mace and Ruby caught it on Silberbiss. She brought her pistol around and fired two bursts into his knee. His aura caught two bullets and was depleted as four more tore his knee and shin apart. She kicked him in the chest and he flew back nearly ten feet.

“Don't bother me or anyone else and I’ll let you all live” she said without looking at the two in the bushes. She stowed her weapons and picked up her heavy luggages and started walking. They did not pursue.

 

The next day found her sitting on the top branches of a tree staring despondently at the scroll she had kept with her since leaving vale. She hoped it would still work as she slid her finger across the screen to turn it on. She had a few missed texts and calls. Most were from three or more years ago. A few were sprinkled in amongst the previous few. She supposed it was lucky that service came out this far.

Actually she had no idea how far she was from civilization. She had been walking for… days? A week maybe? She was far from lost. It was a simple route from the western coast of vacuo to the eastern tip. She had never been very good at estimating how long a journey might take whether by bullhead or motor vehicle the only times she knew how long it would take for her to reach a destination was when someone told her.

Regardless, she was letting herself get sidetracked. She had to make this call. She dialed Taiyangs number and waited.

“Hello! This is the scroll of Taiyang Xiao Long, i'm not at the scroll right now so please leave a message after the tone.” followed by a soft beep greeted her.

“Uh, hi dad. I didn’t really have anything to say i guess. Except sorry. Im sorry i left. You. leaving was… well. I don’t regret anything except not telling you. I hope everything has been going well back at Patch, maybe you can tell me about it sometime. I’ve been, well. Yeah, It's been tough sometimes. Vacuo is beautiful by the way. Its wild and the little towns are wonderful. It’s harsh and rough sometimes, but the people here seem so optimistic and… and no one knew my name. It… It was wonderful. Not being recognized here. I made a new scythe. She’s called Grandiflora Rose. She’s way bigger than Qrow’s scythe, I decided to make the blade a solid blade instead of using the mobile segment blades”

Ruby sighed deeply. “Sorry. You don't want to hear about that. I guess call me back if you get a chance. I don’t know how long I'll have signal, so, I'm sorry if I don't respond.” 

Ruby hopped down from the tree and looked down the road, hoisting her bags. Time to start walking.

 

____________________________

9 years after the Second Great War

  
  


Oscar idly tapped on the inactive scroll. His position at Beacon was still tenuous, he convinced the council soundly but it was through the use of Ozpins less… public information about the council's members. Still, he was unsure of the consequences from this course of action. In part it was that the council might not look kindly at the expenditure, but in part it was the fallout amongst the people that were already in his circle. If he was right about everything. It was a big gamble, based on inference and rumor. But if he was right….

What would Weiss, Jaune, all of them, think of what their friend had become? What would Yang think of her sister working with the same people who facilitated the fall of beacon and as a criminal no less. 

But what if Ruby Rose wasn't there when the next attack came. No he needed a trump card if his information about the size of that grimm army was even close to right.

He spun the oddly phallic chair that had somehow endured the destruction of most of the room. He looked out over Beacon and at Vale in the distance and swiped the scroll on.

“Hello, is this the number of Crimson Wulfhardt?”

“It is. Who am i speaking to?” It was certainly Ruby. tired, grown up Ruby. he knew that tone well, during the war she had rarely sounded any different. There was also an air of knowing suspicion to the voice, she knew who he was.

“A potential client.” this was going to be fun. “Tell me, would you be interested in a rather long term job?”

“We are willing to listen to what you have to say. I assume my friends are included in this job?”

“Of course miss Crimson.”

“First I'd like to know what kind of job we are talking about.” She said, the tone of suspicion still very much there. “Please, a full a transparent description of the job would make this process a lot easier.”

Ruby wasn't interested in jousting ambiguity with him today. Oh well. “The function of your job would be little more than being in and around the capital city of Vale. I need someone with your skills on hand for two reasons. The first being to take care of any little things that come up and can't be dealt with publicly. The second is to be ready to help fight off an invading army. It may or may not be coming, but I’d rather not leave anything to chance. You would come to and live in Vale, on a regular salary that would let you live in the upper middle class. You would of course be free to take other jobs, as I would only call you in for things that needed your expertise. I would expect you at my beck and call, though not beyond reason.”

“Well” Ruby's voice was unwavering, whether she was considering his offer or not he was unsure. “I will discuss it with my coworkers. How can i contact you with our decision?”

He rattled of his scroll number and paused for a moment before continuing. “Listen, this could turn out to be so much worse than I expect. We can't let beacon fall again  _ Ruby. _ ”

There was a silence that lasted far longer than he was comfortable with. At first he thought she had simply hung up, and was about to give up when she spoke again. “Ill talk to Roman and Neo about it Oscar. I don't much care for the idea of coming back to vale, but…. Ill call you soon.”

“Thanks for at least considering it. I .. I know how hard everything was after the war.”

“Tell… Tell ‘em ive been thinking about them alright? Bye Oz.” and she hung up.

Oscar thought that went rather well, and the tiny voice that remained of Ozpin agreed.

**Author's Note:**

> These are a few scenes from something longer I want to put together. Hopefully in the long run Ill be able to explain my interpretation of these characters, but for now, here are these fragments of a story. This will be canon compliant with what is known as of volume four episode six, beyond that no promises.


End file.
